1. Field of the Invention
The apparatus of the present invention relates to emergency medical procedures. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus that can be assembled to provide a device for establishing an air passage for evacuating air from the chest cavity of a person due to a collapsed lung condition.
2. General Background of the Invention
U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,939, entitled "Emergency Tracheostomy Apparatus" was issued to the present invention on Aug. 20, 1996, for an emergency tracheostomy apparatus. The apparatus as disclosed and claimed in that patent is utilized to perform emergency tracheostomies on patients. The present invention, is an apparatus which addresses an additional problem of air which has accumulated in the body cavity of a person due to a collapsed lung condition, and would establish an air passage for evacuating air from the chest cavity to prevent further injury to the patient.
There is an emergency medical condition which is brought about by a person who may have suffered a collapsed lung. For example, when a collapsed lung is caused by a trauma to the rib cage, not only may the lung collapse, but for example, a rib may pierce the sack surrounding the lungs, which would result in any air which is inhaled by the patient to escape into the body cavity between the exterior wall of the body cavity and the sack surrounding the lungs. If this condition is left unattended, it could result in a potentially fatal outcome. As the air accumulates in the body cavity, the air would put increased pressure on the sack surrounding the patient's heart, which due to this increased pressure, would lead if not attended to properly to heart failure. Although this type of a condition can be easily rectified in the confines of a hospital, if such a condition would occur in a setting where there is no emergency equipment to rectify the situation, death of the patient may be inevitable.
Therefore, there is a need in the medical art for a simple apparatus which can be utilized by a doctor, and carried on his or her person, so that should this emergency medical condition arise, the doctor may act quickly with the use of the apparatus and easily rectify the situation and save the life of the patient.